Cat Views

Bombay cats are exotic in appearance resembling a “mini panther”! These cats can be leash trained and will even play “fetch” with you. Bombays can be very entertaining just by using their own creative measures. These cats are congenial, outgoing, intelligent, socially inquisitive, affectionate, lap-cats. Easy going, they are very compatible with dogs and other pets. They do well with children and often act as a “greeter” towards guests. Their bodies are medium length with rounded heads and short muzzles. Their coats are short, flat and gleaming black with gold to copper eye color. Keeping these rare cats indoors is essential. It is important to provide them with a variety of scratching posts for the natural behavior of scratching in lieu of de-clawing. Not de-clawing allows them to live a healthy life and you to fully enjoy them and their very unique personalities.

A few months ago, I moved to a new apartment just a few miles away from the old one. It offered a more convenient location and easy access to public transportation. My cat was a little underwhelmed with the move, however. She had grown accustomed to roaming free in the backyard, going outside and coming back in at will. The new apartment lacked a backyard, and I didn’t want to risk her wandering into the road.

It might have just been a coincidence, but the cat started clawing the furniture to shreds as soon as we moved into the new place. She seemed frustrated about being sequestered indoors. Rather than getting her declawed, I bought my pet a cat scratching post. This allowed her to take out her aggression on an object that didn’t cost me an arm and a leg.

Many cat owners become very frustrated with their cats when they turn the attention of their claws to the furniture or the curtains. But one of the best ways to prevent this behavior is to understand why a cat scratches in the first place. To that end, owners should realize that scratching is a natural instinct for cats, as is nesting. That’s why a traditional scratching post might not always deter cats completely from their furniture scratching ways.

In order to completely eliminate this behavior in undesirable places, cat owners need the ultimate cat scratcher. This allows cats to nest and snuggle down while scratching. These often offer multiple sides scratching, not just one. So no matter what position you cat takes, his paws will always be in the direct vicinity of some area of the scratching post. By tailoring to this cat behavior, many owners can successfully save their furniture without resorting to extreme measures.

Last month while driving through Hatch New Mexico, I saw along the street outside an import store a large, interesting iron statue of a horse with rider. Normally, I’m not a much of shopper but needing a little break from driving I decided to stop. The store was filled with an odd collection of Mexican imports; mostly home decorative items. I buzzed it in typical fashion seeing stuff of no particular interest other than a hand-craved wooden Don Quixote leaning against the wall partially hidden by other items. Once home ole’ DQ was welcomed by my cat, Doofie who thought I bought her a new sisal scratch post. Fortunately once the novelty wore off, Doofie decided the sisal scratcher on her cat furniture was a lot more appealing.

It was another one of those dreary, wet winter days and Sandy, the cat, was looking for something to amuse herself with.  It was just too nasty to go outside! Besides the fact that she might actually get her paws wet.

Well, scratching on the furniture was definitely forbidden.  She knew she would get into serious trouble for that! Ah, the next best thing to do was bite the Snake or Mother-in-Law’s tongue plants that lined the top of the stairwell.  She would get scolded, but not in any real trouble for that. What to do? She raced around and over the furniture in the small apartment bit the plants, and still felt restless. Finally, mom came to her rescue. She brought out the SCRABBLE game and set it up on the floor. Since this was one of her favorite things to do, Sandy spent the next two hours happily moving the pieces around on the game board. She was settled down and we had peace once more and she was a happy cat!

What kind of toys does your cat prefer to play with?  Cats tend to play with toys that match their natural tendencies. There are cats who are “birders “and like toys that are bird-like, fluffy and with feathers.  “Mousers” prefer catnip, mechanical mice and toys that resemble mice in shape.  Other cats like bugs and will show a preference for bug-type toys and enjoy to batting around small objects.

We discovered our Siamese cat was a “birder” much to our chagrin.  It was almost Christmas and my collection of small stuffed birds adorned the tree along with popcorn and cranberry garland strings.  After a day of shopping we returned home to devastation!  Our beautiful tree had been ravaged and a few birds were left in the upper branches.  The cat had totally stripped the lower section of the tree strewing stuffing and feathers everywhere.  My great hunter had captured all those birds that had been resting on the lower branches.  While he was devouring the birds, his partner-in-crime, the dog, managed to strip the garlands of the popcorn.  He had no use for the cranberries.  It goes without saying that was the last year our Christmas tree sported birds and popcorn!

Today, Lady Jane has a few “cat facts” for you.  When you are feeling stressed, do you like to listen to music to relax?  Cats like to listen to music also. They will stretch out in front of a stereo speaker when classical music is playing.  Dogs enjoy music, and listening to Bach can actually cause them to bark less.  We get stressed over many everyday things but don’t stop to think about our pets being stressed.  The same household situations that cause us stress work on them because they are sensitive to us and to our moods.

Indoor cats need to be stimulated.  Outdoor cats have many new smells, places to explore, bugs, birds, lizards, rabbits to hunt which keeps them stimulated.  There is even the occasional “cat fight” to spur them on.  Our indoor cats do not have access to these stimulants, so providing them with a screened area, a bird feeder to watch and maybe a wonderful scratching post or two, as well as a cat tree makes sure they have an exciting indoor life.  Cats are natural predators and hunters.  They live for the chase.

Cats like to play.  As kittens, they are extremely playful which develops their social, mental and physical skills. They are wonderfully entertaining to watch.  A paper bag (especially for an indoor cat), catnip balls, yarn, and toy mice are favorites for most cats.  Lady Jane however, prefers her toys to be interactive!  Lizards, birds and mice will do fine.  She is very adept at catching them and bringing them in to play with her.

If you’re a cat owner then you know that cats are not as easily trainable as dogs.  They come and go as they please and they’ll do what comes naturally to them whenever they want to.  Cats like to scratch.  You can’t keep them from doing it ever.  So don’t even try.

What you can do to prevent your cat from completely destroying your furniture is to buy him his own cat scratch post.  It allows your cat to shred to its heart’s content without shredding your patience.  Also getting your cat a scratch post is a better choice for you and your cat’s health instead of other preventive measures such as declawing or punishing your cat.  Start your cat early by getting a post while it’s still a kitten.  Remember, the earlier you start, the less damage inflicted on your prized suede sofa.

I drive past a particular billboard almost everyday. It’s in a very odd location, not really a good spot as it’s sandwiched between 2 fairly tall buildings. The other day, I noticed it had been changed, titled “Cat Magnet.” Hum… OK, so it worked. I did a u-turn (don’t tell the cops) so I could drive past it again to see what it was advertising. In fact, I pulled into a parking lot so I could read the entire text. It was advertising www.inventnow.org using a very clever theme about a kid inventing a cat magnet. Seems the kid doesn’t know about the amazing effectiveness of tuna or cat scratchers!

“Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!” - Theophile Gautier

 Who said custom cat trees have to be expensive!! We stumbled upon a great line of cat furniture pieces including scratch posts, multi-level, multi-functional cat trees for the economy-minded. Value doesn’t have to take away from some snazzy features in this line by Pacific. Color selections include Speckled Sand, Natural, Tan and Green. With folks so up-in-the-air over our economy these days this line offers a nice break from high-end designer cat furniture.